


Into Shadows

by Moontune



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader is gender neutral, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Warnings May Change, reader is from the present day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-06-23 04:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15598713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moontune/pseuds/Moontune
Summary: Growing up, it didn't take long for you to realise that you were different from others. You saw things that other people didn't, you felt energies that no one else could feel. More often than not, you'd wind up in trouble thanks to your perception of the otherworldly entities.But none of your past experiences with dark forces could possibly prepare you for what would happen at the abandoned house on the outskirts of your city.





	1. Doorway to Another World

**Author's Note:**

> I really shouldn't start another series until I've finished at least one of the others I'm working on... Oh well.
> 
> Also I was really surprised that there hardly any reader-inserts for Don't Starve, much less for Wilson. The science boy needs more love I s2g

The air was cool and chilly as the wind howled through the trees. Dusk fell upon the land as the sounds of the city echoed from the distance, and you walked calmly through the dark woods. There was an old abandoned house beyond the forest, within a small clearing. It sat empty, and no one dared go near it in fear of the story surrounding it.

  
It was rumoured that a mad scientist had lived there long ago, having gone insane from solitude and constant self-experimentation. They say he died at the hands of a great and powerful machine, and that his spirit still dwells there; never resting as he continued his research.

  
Now, it wasn't that you didn't believe the rumours. You knew that every story had to come from somewhere, so it was completely plausible that there was some truth in the old tale.

  
Hell, it wasn't even the story that drew you to the old house. No, it was the strange energy you felt from it. Even when you were in the city, you could feel the dark aura emanating from it.

  
Taking a deep breath, you soon found yourself at the edge of the clearing. The grass surrounding the house was dead, and spread all the way up to the treeline. It was strange and unnatural, with a fine line indicating where the dead grass began and the healthy green grass of the forest began.

  
You knew you shouldn't be here. The energy surrounding the area held ill will, and every fiber of your being screamed at you to leave. But your curiosity could not be quenched by remaining outside. No, the shadows from within the house beckoned for you to enter. They called for you to come closer, to know more about the strange place.

  
You took another deep breath to settle your nerves as you gripped the pendant of your necklace. The pendant was a charm made by your grandmother, to protect you from evil and shield you from dark spirits.

  
You prayed that it worked.

  
Stepping forward, you started making your way toward the entrance to the run-down house. The fence surrounding it was worn and rotten, only barely staying together. You'd think the house would likely be in the same condition as the rickety withering fence, but surprisingly enough, it wasn't. It certainly didn't look particularly well-maintained, but it wasn't broken down or rotten.

  
Walking past the deteriorating fence, you approached the front door. You knocked on the thick wood of the door, and waited for a moment. You knew no one lived here, but it didn't hurt to check just in case.

  
A few seconds ticked by, and nobody answered. Sighing, you acted against your better judgement, and opened the door. The old hinges squealed as it opened, and the floorboards creaked as you entered the house. The air inside was heavy with dust motes floating through the air. Dirt and grime coated every available surface of the interior, and you swore you could smell the faint scent of smoke.

  
Stepping inside further, you jumped as a gust picked up from further within the house, and slammed the door shut. Once the door was closed, the mysterious wind disappeared.

  
Frightened, you returned to the door and tried to open it, only for your attempt to be in vain. It wasn't locked, but it was as if someone was holding it closed from the other side.

  
"Hey, let me out!" You yelled, banging on the door with your fists. No matter what you did, however, the door refused to budge.

  
Giving up, you stepped back and looked around the dark empty house. As the sun disappeared below the horizon, so did the last few remaining rays of light. With the light from outside gone, the inside of the house was plummeted into inky black darkness.

  
Retrieving your cell phone from your pocket, you briefly checked for messages before turning on the flashlight.

  
You had no new messages or missed calls, with the added bonus of being out of service.

  
Looking around the area briefly, you decided to go up a nearby staircase to the upper floor of the house. It was here the you made an interesting find. The room itself was rather plain and simple; there was a bookshelf, a clock, an old radio on a desk, a chair, a furnace, and a workbench stationed beneath a boarded-up window with plenty of beakers and flasks placed on top.

  
However, none of those things could possibly stand out more than the huge machine unlike anything you'd seen before. It's purpose remained a mystery to you, but you knew one thing for certain:

  
This machine is the source of all this dark energy.

  
You stared at the strange contraption, eyeing it up and wondering what exactly you should do.

  
There was no doubt in your mind that you should dismantle it, and perform a purification ritual on this house to rid it of the unknown evil presence. But how would you go about taking apart such a huge machine? You were no engineer, and you had little experience with mechanics.

  
Perhaps you could simply find a large hammer or a mallet, and smash it to bits? Then again, that ran the risk of disturbing whatever entity dwelt within this machine, and you would much rather avoid confronting such a being.

  
You ran your hand through your hair, and turned your light to the workbench. Several papers caught your eye - perhaps they were research notes, or even blueprints for the machine? Either way, you hoped these pages held information that could aid you in taking apart the machine.

  
Before you could examine the pages further, a voice piped up from behind you.

  
"Say pal, you look like you're having trouble."

  
You jumped and nearly screamed, whipping around and shining your phone's light around to find that no one was present. Maybe you were just hearing things?

  
"I must be going crazy..." You muttered to yourself, about to turn back around to further investigate the workbench only for the voice to speak up again.

  
"Not yet you aren't."

  
Pinpointing the source of the man's voice, you shined your light over immediately, only to find the old radio sitting on top of the wooden desk. Perhaps the voice belonged to the entity occupying the household?

  
"You look like you could use a bit of help."

  
_No, wait..._

  
The source of the voice was coming _from_ the radio. Someone was speaking directly to you through it.

  
Slowly creeping forward, you approached the radio with great caution. What should you say? Should you even answer?

  
"Um, I..." You struggled to find the right words, wracking your brain to think of something to say. "Uh...Yes. Yes, I suppose I could use a bit of help. I... I need to dismantle this machine - it's dangerous."

  
"Now, what makes you think that thing is dangerous?" The voice inquired as you crept closer. It wasn't until you were standing directly in front of the radio that you answered him.

  
"Well, I..." Pausing for a brief moment, you mulled over your thoughts and forced yourself to remain calm as you answered. "I believe it to be the source of the abundance of dark and evil energy."

  
"Now, aren't you clever?" The voice said, "Not everyone is able to realise the presence of such an energy, nor can they understand exactly what it is."

  
You smiled slightly at the praise, but you were already well aware that your understanding of energies and auras was not universal. You grew up seeing things that others couldn't, and judging atmospheres much better than the average person.

  
"But you're wrong to believe that the machine is the source of such a thing."

  
_Wait, what?_

  
Furrowing your brows, your soft smile faded into a concerning frown as you continued to stare down at the radio.

  
"Then what _does_ the machine do? It has to have something to do with the negativity around this place, I just _know_ it." You stated firmly.

  
"The energy you feel is naturally generated by this spot. The house you're standing in was built on what one would call a _gateway_."

  
"A gateway to what?" You asked, tilting your head ever so slightly.

  
"A gateway to an eternal evil." The voice answered, "That machine was built to contain it and keep the gateway shut."

  
"Oh..." Was all you said, turning your phone's light over to the machine in question, and looking over it.

  
"No one's had the courage to step foot in this place," The voice spoke again, "Until you, of course."

  
Silence hung in the air as you processed the unknown man's words, thinking over your next actions.

  
It wasn't like you could leave this house. The windows were all boarded shut; and even if you could get rid of the boards, there was no way the entity here would allow you to escape. After all, you doubted that it was the wind keeping that door shut when you tried to leave.

  
You had nowhere to go, and no way to get out. Maybe if you fixed the machine, it would seal away the entity dwelling here, and you could leave?

  
"So..." You started, "I gotta fix this thing so it can close the gateway?"

  
"Precisely." The voice replied.

  
"But... how?" You asked, "I don't even know what's wrong with it."

  
"I'll provide you with all the knowledge you require to repair the machine," The voice answered, "If you think you're ready for it."

  
You thought about it for a moment, looking from the radio to the machine and back again. It wasn't like you had much of a choice, really. Fixing this thing seemed to be the only way to leave this place.

  
"Okay..." You said, nodding your head and resting your hand on top of the radio.

  
The next thing you knew, your mind was filled with equations and formulas like you've never seen before. Your head pounded as the newfound knowledge was jammed into your brain, forcing you to learn what you could only describe as forbidden knowledge.

  
When it was all over, you removed your hand from the radio, and stared down at it for a moment as you processed the new information.

  
"Oh..." You muttered, slowly realising what needed to be done, "Oh!"

  
Turning around to face the machine, you took a step forward and shined your cellphone's flashlight on a few specific parts.

  
"I think I know what to do..." You said, mostly to yourself, as you closely inspected the workings of the contraption. "I'm no mechanic, but I'll do my best!"

  
"That's the spirit." Was all the radio man said before you got to work.

  
You spent the entire night repairing broken panels, replacing rusty gears and broken light bulbs, and tightening loose screws. Several pipes were rusty or cracked, requiring you to either install news ones, or try your best to clean the rust off.

  
You didn't take many breaks, only resting once to catch up on lost sleep for a few hours. You most likely would have slept in longer, had it not been for the sudden thunderstorm that rolled in whilst you were asleep.

  
Strange... you didn't recall seeing a storm scheduled in the weather forecast.

  
Nevertheless, you got right back to work the moment you woke up, wasting no time.

  
The closer you got to completing the machine, the more intense the dark energy got. You grew increasingly concerned, worried for your own well-being and questioning the mysterious man's information.

  
But you pushed all your concerns to the back of your mind. You had come too far already, you couldn't stop now.

  
Tightening the final screw, you stepped back to admire your hard work. There was no more rust, no more cracks, no more broken pieces, You weren't exactly sure what the machine looked like when it was first constructed, but you assumed that it was likely something akin to how it currently looked.

  
Taking a deep breath, you leaned up against the desk the radio sat upon.

  
"I'm finally done..." You sighed, looking down at the radio.

  
It was rather difficult to see, thanks to the dark clouds blocking the sun. But there was just enough daylight for you to notice something engraved on the radio that you didn't see before. The mysterious man was about to speak, but you interrupted him as you lifted the radio closer to your face to inspect the engraving.

  
Turning on your phone's flashlight once again, you read the engraved words out loud.

  
"Wilson P. Higgsbury..." You muttered, "Who's that?"

  
"That was the scientist who originally built the machine," The voice answered, "And the previous owner of this house."

  
"Huh..." You hummed in response, setting the radio back down on the desktop, "What happened to him?"

  
"It hardly matters what happened to him," The voice said in a rushed tone, causing your suspicion to rise. "What matters now is what will happen to you if you don't activate the machine."

  
You had the urge to argue, to interrogate the radio man about this "Wilson" person. Why didn't he just tell you what happened? Why was he so impatient? It wasn't like you were in immediate danger.

  
"Now, throw the switch!"

  
Looking up and the machine, you turned off your phone's flashlight and tucked it back into your pocket, approaching the large machine. Your hand hovered over the switch as you hesitated, with every single warning bell in your mind going off at once. Something wasn't right...

  
" _Do it!_ " The voice insisted in a commanding and impatient tone.

  
At that, you stepped away from the machine and brought your arm back down to your side. No, there was something this man wasn't telling you.

  
"What do you think you're doing?!" The voice hissed through the radio. You simply shook your head, and turned to the doorway leading to the staircase.

  
"Something's not right, you're not telling me something..." You muttered, "I'm... I'm leaving. There's gotta be another way out of here..."

  
Before you could take even one step towards the stairs, the door slammed shut on it's own as lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

  
"There is no other way out," The voice said in a sinister tone, "Now flip that switch!"

  
Looking from the closed door to the machine, you narrowed your eyes and clenched you jaw. Turning around, you glared fiercely at the radio as a realisation dawned upon you.

  
" _You're_ doing this, aren't you?!" You yelled angrily, "It was you the entire time!"

  
Before the man could say anything in response, you lunged forward and brought your fist down on the radio hard enough to shatter it. Pieces of the wooden frame scattered around as sharp bits of metal dug into your arm, but you didn't care.

  
You should've known better, you've been through enough bullshit to know better than to listen to some vague and mysterious voice.

  
Suddenly, the room you were standing in was plummeted into absolute darkness. Not even the lightning from the raging storm outside provided any source of light.

  
Amidst the sudden confusion and panic, you stumbled around blindly in hopes of finding the door. Instead of managing to make your way to the door, however, you instead tripped and fell against the newly-repaired machine. In order to catch yourself, you moved to grab something to keep yourself from hitting the ground, only for you to grab hold of the switch and pull it down.

  
Struggling to pick yourself up off the floor, you looked up as the machine lit up the room. Gears turned and rotated as pistons caused several of the mechanics to expand upwards, breaking through the roof.

  
The next thing you knew, two shadowy arms appeared and manifested up from the wooden floor. You managed to pull yourself up to your feet and attempted to run away, only for the dark appendages to grasp your ankles and pull you down into the ground.

  
Darkness overtook your vision, and the last thing you heard was the sound of the mysterious man laughing maniacally.

 

 

"Say pal, you don't look so good."

  
Upon hearing the familiar voice, you slowly opened your eyes to see a tall man standing over you. The man was deathly pale with significant bags under his eyes, dressed in a three-piece suit. Groaning slightly, you blinked several times to try and clear your vision.

  
"You'd better find something to eat before night comes."

  
With that said, the man disappeared, leaving you to explore this strange new world on your own.


	2. An Unfortunate Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up in a strange, unknown world, you get to work ensuring your survival.

Sitting up in a dazed state, you looked around at your surroundings. Your vision was blurry and distorted, making it difficult to make out what was happening.

 

Closing your eyes and shaking your head in an attempt to clear your thoughts, you tried to recall any events that happened prior to your appearance here. You sighed heavily, running your hand through your hair and massaging your aching head.

 

_Broken shards of an old radio_

 

_The howling wind of a raging storm_

 

_Grinding gears of an active machine_

 

_Then darkness._

 

Concentrating further, you encouraged yourself to recall what had been said to you moments ago. It wasn’t hard to forget the words spoken to you by the familiar voice of the radio man.

 

_“You’d better find something to eat before night comes.”_

 

Opening your eyes, you glanced around to properly take in your surroundings. There were several pine trees of various sizes in the area, along with flowers, shrubs, and tufts of tall grass. The aura of this new place was strangely different, to the point where you were convinced that you were no longer on Earth.

 

Where were you?

 

Standing up, your legs trembled under your weight. Patting your pockets frantically, you managed to locate and retrieve you phone. It was undamaged, though unlocking it revealed that there was no service, it had low battery, and it was currently 9:38 in the morning.

 

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes once more to concentrate. There was a darkness that shrouded this land, similar to what you felt coming from the old scientist's house. It only seemed to worsen further south, however; as such, you would prefer to go north and avoid such dark energy.

 

You wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

 

Turning north, you began your journey away from the darkness, picking flowers as you walked. Their petals were soft, and the nectar smelled sweet. _Perfect for soothing the nerves._

 

With nothing but the clothes on your back, your grandmother's pendant, and a useless cellphone, you had little to work with when it came to survival. Of course, if you were lucky, you could find a wandering soul and ask for their help. You weren't the first to have been brought here - that much you could tell.

 

As the sun rose higher in the sky, you began gathering more resources. Grass, sticks, flint, and even small rocks. You'll need everything you can get your hands on to survive in this mysterious, unforgiving world.

 

With what little resources you could scavenge together by hand, you managed to craft a flower crown, a rabbit trap, an axe, a pickaxe, and a torch. You still had some grass, flint, and rocks left over just in case you needed to make something else.

 

It was strange, how easy it was for you to figure out how to craft these items. You never recalled learning of such things back home - you never had to know how to make an axe out of flint and sticks before. It was never necessary, after all.

 

You didn't dwell on the thought for long, though. As far as you were concerned, it didn't matter how you came across this knowledge. All that mattered was that it would help you survive in the long run.

 

In the long run...

 

As you picked berries and pulled carrots out of the ground, you couldn't help but wonder how long you'll be here for. Was there a specific amount of time you had to survive for until you were sent home? Or did you have to actively find the way out of this land?

 

Was there a way out...?

 

You paused on that thought for a moment. No, there had to be a way out. If you managed to enter this strange place, then there had to be a way to leave. A door can open both ways.

 

Huffing, you continued you journey farther north, stumbling upon a grassy landscape littered with rabbit holes and tufts of long grass. If you squinted and strained your eyes a bit, you could see the silhouettes of bigger animals. From what you could tell, they were fluffy and had large horns. You debated approaching the odd beasts, but decided against it. Instead, you opted for settling down and building yourself a campsite.

 

The area you chose to settle in seemed like a good choice; there was an abundance of trees, shrubs, and berry bushes just south, and the aforementioned grassland directly north. Each biome offered a significant amount of resources, food included.

 

The sun soon began to set, and the bunnies all scurried off to their rabbit holes. As dusk fell, you brandished your hand-crafted axe, and chopped down a few trees to gather wood for a fire pit. Once you gathered enough logs, you set up the fire pit, and got a nice, warm fire going.

 

Your timing was perfect, as the sun disappeared completely and darkness descended upon the land. You looked around a bit, unable to see anything that the light of your campfire couldn't reach.

 

You remembered that, as a child, you had been deathly afraid of the dark. You feared that monsters made of shadows would claw their way from the blackness of your closet and bring harm to you as you slept.

 

Now you were certain that your childhood fear was justified.

 

You could feel it - an unseen creature lurking in the dark, waiting to pounce as soon as the light flickered out. It was not a solid being, and had no shape. This creature was the darkness itself, and you could feel its raw, unbridled hunger for death.

 

Clutching your grandmother's pendant close, you fed the fire a handful of cut grass to keep the darkness at bay. As you took a quick look at your inventory, you heard your stomach growl as the hollow feeling of hunger began eating away at the pit of your gut.

 

With plenty of berries on hand, you roasted the red fruit over the fire, and ate enough to keep you satisfied until dawn.

 

Sighing softly, you threw another handful of grass onto the fire, and gazed up at the crescent moon above. There were a few stars dotting the sky, but they didn't form any constellations that you recognised. No Orion, no Ursa Major, and definitely none of the zodiacs. It was as if a child drew random dots of light in the night sky.

 

Retrieving your cell phone from your pocket, you unlocked it and opened your photo gallery. You swiped through your pictures and photos of family and friends alike. You told a few friends that you were going to investigate the abandoned house outside of town... Were they trying to get ahold of you right now? Did they go to the house themselves, only to find you missing?

 

You felt your eyes water as tears began to fall down your cheeks. The reality of the situation finally began to dawn on you and weigh you down. You were trapped - brought here by a sinister man with dark powers, forced to fend for yourself in a strange new world you knew nothing about.

 

Wiping your tears away, you forced away dark thoughts. No, you mustn't allow yourself to fall into a pit of despair. You will survive. You will find a way back home. It may take days, weeks, months, even years.

 

But no matter how long it may take, you'd find a way.

 

_You had to._


	3. A New Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (TW: Animal Death)

You didn’t sleep at all that night. You couldn’t find it in you to close your eyes and rest – not with the looming presence of the darkness that closed in at every available opportunity. It put you on edge, keeping you wide awake despite your exhaustion. Still, you pushed yourself to stay awake and get to work.

 

You spent the day exploring the land, foraging for materials, and searching for food. The food part wasn’t too hard, thanks to the multitudes of berry bushes and rabbits in the area. It wasn’t long until you came across a small pond in the east.

 

Approaching the small body of water, you looked down at your reflection in the murky water. You were about to turn and pick some nearby carrots, until you noticed the surface of the pond ripple.

 

Watching the water for a moment longer, you were surprised to see a large frog hop out of the pond. You tilted your head slightly as you examined the creature, crouching down to get a better look. Its cloudy, dead-white eyes unnerved you a bit, but overall it didn’t seem too bad.

 

_It’s kinda cute… in a froggy sort of way._

 

The thought lingered in your mind for a mere second, however, as the large frog turned to face you. Sticking out its long tongue, it whipped at your skin like a big rubber band. Startled, you stood up and stumbled back, only for the frog to follow and lash its tongue at you again as more frogs appeared from the nearby pond.

 

Turning heel and running as fast as you could away from the killer frogs, you managed to get away with only a brief pursuit. Once you were certain they weren’t following you, you slowed down and walked up to the grassland to check your rabbit traps.

 

_Forced to flee from frogs… how humiliating._

 

Sighing, you reached into your pocket to grab some berries as you heard your stomach growl. You were bruised, tired, and you already hated this place.

 

And, just your luck, you found that your pocket was empty of all the berries you had picked earlier. You frantically patted down the clothes on your body, searching your pockets for the berries you had mere moments ago.

 

Taking a moment to stop and think, you realized that you must have dropped them in your frantic haste to get away from the frogs.

 

Just another way to add insult to injury.

 

Sighing, you walked through the grassland, finding that there were indeed a few rabbits caught. Retrieving the captured rabbits and resetting the animal traps, you carried the small animals back down to camp as the sun slowly set in the sky.

 

Another day gone already… was it just you, or were the days shorter in this strange land? You weren’t sure, and you weren’t sure if you cared.

 

Before you made it back to your camp, you stopped as you noticed something in the corner of your eye. Looking over, you could just faintly make out the shape of a skeleton sprawled out on the ground over to the west.

 

Looking down at the three caught rabbits in your hands, you sighed as you made a short detour towards the human remains. You approached the skeleton cautiously, afraid that snakes or some other creature might pop out and attack you like the frogs had.

 

When no such creatures appeared, you sighed in relief and knelt down beside the skeleton. It was half-buried in the grassy ground, and its bones were bleached white. The poor soul who it once was must have died a long time ago…

 

“Okay…” You muttered to yourself, holding the rabbits close in one hand as you reached to touch the skull with the other, “Let’s see how you died.”

 

Gently placing the tips of your fingers on the skull, you closed your eyes and concentrated. Within a few moments, you found yourself in the grassland, armed with a spear as you faced off against a huge, furry beast with the markings of a badger. The beast let out a loud roar, showing off its sharp teeth and raising a clawed hand, which was brought down on you.

 

Immediately, you were brought back to the present. Opening your eyes and lifting your hand away from the skeleton, you stood up and slowly processed what you saw in the eyes of the dead man.

 

There was much more than frogs and rabbits and buffalo, it seemed. You weren’t exactly surprised, but you weren’t too sure if you’d be able to make a stand against a creature such as the one you just saw. You just got your butt kicked by frogs; there was no way you’d be able to take on a monster of that size.

 

Distressed, you walked briskly back to camp before the sun set completely. Throwing some logs on the fire, you sat down on the ground and stared down at the rabbits. Their fur was soft, and their blank eyes gave away their fear.

 

You hated taking life. Life was so, so precious, and it needed to be preserved.

 

But you were hungry. You hadn’t had the chance to eat anything today, and the pain in your gut only grew the longer you went without food.

 

Sighing heavily, you grabbed your axe and held down one of the rabbits. It squealed and struggled under your hold, trying desperately to escape. You spoke softly to it, thanking it for its life in return for yours.

 

With the blade of your axe, you sliced through the rabbit’s throat, looking away as you waited for its struggle to end.

 

When it fell limp, you let go, and proceeded to do the same with the other two rabbits in your hold.

 

 

You didn’t feel much better after you ate. You were tired, the bruises on your skin ached, and the lingering memory of the beast kept you awake. Even if the thought of the beast didn’t keep you up, the darkness surely would.

 

 It was only your second day in, and you were already exhausted beyond belief.

 

As you sat there in front of flickering light of the camp fire, you couldn’t help but think about how much better things would be if you hadn’t been born with this “gift.”


	4. The Hounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unaware of future dangers, you were ridiculously unprepared to face the sudden assault of hounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (TW: Violence, Mild Gore, Dismemberment)

Waking up to the sound of a distant howling, you squinted up at the sun before sitting up. Rubbing your eyes and stretching, your tired mind tried to recall when you had fallen asleep, as you couldn’t remember when or how you dozed off. It was then that you started to panic, because _oh shit you fell asleep and you weren’t supposed to._

 

Looking around at your meager little encampment, you were relieved to find everything intact, with no harm done to your body from the creeping darkness of the night. You were lucky you had put so much kindling in the fire; if you hadn’t, you probably would have woken up to your own demise rather then what sounded like coyotes barking in the distance.

 

You didn’t pay any mind to the wild dogs. They sounded far away, it was unlikely that you’d encounter them so long as you didn’t go in the direction the barking and howling was coming from.

 

Looking up at the sky, you found that the sun lied directly above you, indicating that you had slept through the morning. Scrambling to grab your axe and some supplies, you immediately made haste to gather more resources. An axe, some leftover roasted berries, and a few spare sticks and bits of cut grass was all you took as you set off into the dark woods to the south.

 

Now, you weren’t exactly fond of traveling into the deep, dark forest. If anything, you would much rather explore more of the vast grassland that the buffalo creatures inhabited. But there were no berry bushes or carrots to be found in such a land – if you were to have any luck with gathering food, you’d likely have more luck in the shady, yet lush woods you had trekked through before.

 

Taking a deep breath, you ignored the overwhelming sense of dread that followed as you searched the deep forest, miraculously finding several berry bushes and wild carrots. Of course, food wasn’t the only thing you stumbled upon. As you searched, you had found several strange mounds made of a silky white substance. You were curious about the strange mounds, but thought better than to approach or disturb them.

 

_Must be a nest for… something._

 

Turning west, you heard the howling and barking of the wild dogs grow closer. Your concern grew, as you found that no matter where you went, the sound only continued to grow nearer still. It was almost as though they were actively following you, and trying to find you.

 

Upon hearing the nearby call of a crow, you jumped slightly and whipped your head around to find the black bird, perched upon the tombstone of a grave. Such a sight put you further on edge; the sight of a single crow signified bad luck and misfortune – and to find it standing on a grave, well… you didn’t like how things were looking out for your future.

 

Shaking your head, you examined the crow briefly before continuing your walk.

 

_Crowth the raven “Nevermore.”_

 

You smiled slightly at your little joke, more than happy to dismiss the darkness and dread looming over your shoulder. But your lightened mood fell as you once again heard the call of the wild dogs, closer now more than ever.

 

Picking up the pace, the thick of the forest began to thin out and the deep green grass became duller and patchier. Clutching your axe tight with both hands, you grew more and more afraid for your well-being.

 

Hoping to ease your growing anxiety, you popped your roasted berries into your mouth, chewing them carefully as you looked up at the sky above. It was well past noon, soon to be dusk. You really should have gone back to your little camp, but you decided against it. You could fend off the darkness of night with a torch and go back in the morning.

 

If you managed to survive through the night, that is.

 

Hearing a particularly loud bark, you turned around to see a beast, the likes of which you hadn’t seen before. Its eyes were white and empty, but narrow as it fixated on you.

 

It barked once more, with another hound leaping from the shadowy forest to join it.

 

Turning around, you ran as fast as you could, hastily putting together a torch as daylight began to fade. You could hear them panting and barking on your heels, their hot breath on your back as they snapped at you – only barely missing.

 

Darkness began to fall, and you could barely see with the little light your torch provided. It didn’t exactly help that the area you ran to was particularly foggy, either.

 

Gasping for breath, you forced your legs to carry you further into the fog. Swallowing thickly, you found that there was no fleeing from these beasts as they continued to give chase.

 

Keeping a tight hold on your torch with your left hand, you readied your axe with your right and turned on your heel, swinging down as hard as you could when one of the hounds stopped to try and bite at you. Miraculously, you were able to land a good hit between its eyes, causing it to collapse lifelessly with your axe thoroughly lodged in its skull.

 

Unable to celebrate your small victory, however, the other hound leaped forward from the shadowy darkness, sinking its teeth into your left arm.

 

Dropping your torch onto the dry grass, you fell backwards as you struggled to pry the beast’s jaws out of your bicep. You screamed as your attempts appeared futile, its fangs only digging deeper into your flesh and cutting though you muscle.

 

Everything next seemed to happen in slow motion, as the hound pinned you with its paws and moved to thrash its head.

 

Your blood ran cold as the monster flailed its head back with tremendous force, pulling at your arm and tearing it away from the rest of your body.

 

Letting out a blood curdling scream, you writhed in pain as the hound began to devour your severed arm. Blood spurt from the fresh wound, dyeing the dull green grass red and coating the loose dirt of an unmarked grave, of which had since gone unnoticed by you in the darkness.

 

Gripping the area where your arm once was, you cried out as you tried desperately to stop the bleeding whilst the beast remained distracted, feasting on the meat of your lost limb.

 

A faint glow caught your eye, however. In your haze of pain and agony, you were quick to dismiss it as your torch; but the drying light of your torch lied opposite of where the soft white light was coming from.

 

Glancing over, you watched as light emerged from beneath the loose dirt of the grave your blood now stained. In the blink of an eye, a being of shapeless light sprung forth, and attacked the remaining hound before it could do you more harm.

 

You stared in awe at the being of light as it slayed the beast, before hovering over you as the fire of your discarded torch died out. Its light might not have been the brightest, but it was enough to keep the darkness from tearing you apart, just as the hound had done.

 

Panting heavily, you lied back on the ground as the adrenaline slowly began to dissipate. Taking deep breaths, you tried to keep yourself calm as to not make things worse for you.

 

“Thank…” You struggled to form words as you coughed, your chest still sore from all the running. “Thank you…”

 

You fought desperately to stay awake as the being of light remained hovering over you. At this point, you were certain that the only thing keeping you from losing consciousness was the intense pain of where your left arm was supposed to be.

 

Groaning and writhing, you ground your teeth together as tears fell from your eyes. It was unbearable, unlike any other pain you had experienced before. Worse than the poltergeist who flung a knife into your back; worse than the extremely hostile spirit who locked you in a burning building and you were forced to break through a window and jump from the second floor, severely spraining your ankle and very nearly breaking your legs.

 

Out of all the dangerous stuff you’ve done, and all the injuries you’ve sustained over the years from your supernatural exploits, this was the worst of it all.

 

Staring up at the crescent moon above, you finally allowed your body to fall limp. You were tired, and you could feel the life slowly draining from you.

 

Yes… yes, you must be dying. It was pitiful, really, that you had only managed to survive for three days in this strange realm. You didn’t want to die, you still wanted to live on and find a way out of this cursed land. But there was no use in fighting the inevitable. You were dying, and that was that.

 

Whimpering softly at the intense pain of your lost limb, you slowly began to close your eyes as blood continued to coat your hand and soak the earthy ground beneath you.

 

Just before you could close your eyes, however, another faint glow appeared in the corner of your vision, accompanied by the sound of footsteps. Catching your attention, you blinked and kept your eyes open just long enough for the being of light to move away and disappear back into its grave, allowing you to see the face of a man.

 

Your breath hitched and your tired eyes widened at the sight of him. You almost thought you were hallucinating from extensive blood loss, but no. This man – this real, live, human man, was most definitely not a figment of your imagination.

 

He held tight onto a lantern, looking over your bruised and bloodied body before kneeling down at your side. His onyx eyes were wide; no doubt he was just as shocked as you were to find another live human in this world.

 

Eyes landing on your missing arm, he pursed his thin lips, and pulled his backpack off his back, digging around in it as he spoke to you.

 

“I... It’s okay, I'm going to help you.” He spoke, a slight accent framing his words.

 

From his bag he pulled a stone bowl of pink goo, and a large bandage covered in what appeared to be honey.

 

But your eyelids felt heavy. As much as you wanted to believe you could live through this with his aid, you couldn’t help but give in to the tempting darkness that edged into your vision. Letting out a low whine, you closed your eyes once more.

 

As you did, you felt a hand tap against your cheek – not enough to hurt; just enough to keep you awake and open your eyes.

 

“Come on, don’t give up now.” He said, moving his lantern closer to your face so the light shined in your eyes. “Can you speak? What’s your name?”

 

You opened your mouth to speak, only for a low groan to escape your lips as he moved your hand down away from your wounded side. You could feel him apply something slimy to it, and _good god_ that did _not_ feel good.

 

Yelling out at the sudden burning pain, you struggled against the man and tried to push him away with your remaining arm.

 

“Look, I know it hurts but _please-”_ He spoke loudly above your pained cries, grabbing hold of your wrist and holding it down. “This is _healing salve_ , it’s going to help close the wound and stop the bleeding.”

 

Gritting your teeth together once again, you writhed as he continued to apply the salve. In your panicked haze, you went to move your left arm; only to be reminded grimly that it had been torn off by the hound and that’s what he was trying to treat.

 

The entire time you struggled and cried, you prayed and begged for the pain to stop.

 

It did eventually, when you finally blacked out and fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so happy I can finally post this you have no idea

**Author's Note:**

> Updates for this fic will probably be rather scarce, since I'd like to focus on completing one of my other works before I continue this one.


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